Chapter LXX: Final Settlement Of The Ecclesiastical State.—Part IV.

The royal prerogative of coining money, which had been exercised near
three hundred years by the senate, was first resumed by Martin the
Fifth,84228422 See the xxviith Dissertation of the Antiquities of Muratori, and the 1st Instruction of the Science des Medailles of the
Père Joubert and the Baron de la Bastie. The Metallic History of Martin V. and his successors has been composed by two monks,
Moulinet, a Frenchman, and Bonanni, an Italian: but I understand, that the first part of the series is restored from more
recent coins.
and his image and superscription introduce the series of the
papal medals. Of his two immediate successors, Eugenius the Fourth was
the last pope expelled by the tumults of the Roman people,84238423 Besides the Lives of Eugenius IV., (Rerum Italic. tom. iii. P. i. p. 869, and tom. xxv. p. 256,) the Diaries of Paul Petroni
and Stephen Infessura are the best original evidence for the revolt of the Romans against Eugenius IV. The former, who lived
at the time and on the spot, speaks the language of a citizen, equally afraid of priestly and popular tyranny.
and
Nicholas the Fifth, the last who was importuned by the presence of
a Roman emperor.84248424 The coronation of Frederic III. is described by Lenfant, (Concile de Basle, tom. ii. p. 276—288,) from Æneas Sylvius, a spectator
and actor in that splendid scene.
I. The conflict of Eugenius with the fathers of
Basil, and the weight or apprehension of a new excise, emboldened and
provoked the Romans to usurp the temporal government of the city. They
rose in arms, elected seven governors of the republic, and a constable
of the Capitol; imprisoned the pope's nephew; besieged his person in the
palace; and shot volleys of arrows into his bark as he escaped down the
Tyber in the habit of a monk. But he still possessed in the castle of
St. Angelo a faithful garrison and a train of artillery: their batteries
incessantly thundered on the city, and a bullet more dexterously pointed
broke down the barricade of the bridge, and scattered with a single shot
the heroes of the republic. Their constancy was exhausted by a rebellion
of five months. Under the tyranny of the Ghibeline nobles, the wisest
patriots regretted the dominion of the church; and their repentance
was unanimous and effectual. The troops of St. Peter again occupied the
Capitol; the magistrates departed to their homes; the most guilty were
executed or exiled; and the legate, at the head of two thousand foot and
four thousand horse, was saluted as the father of the city. The synods
of Ferrara and Florence, the fear or resentment of Eugenius, prolonged
his absence: he was received by a submissive people; but the pontiff
understood from the acclamations of his triumphal entry, that to secure
their loyalty and his own repose, he must grant without delay the
abolition of the odious excise. II. Rome was restored, adorned, and
enlightened, by the peaceful reign of Nicholas the Fifth. In the midst
of these laudable occupations, the pope was alarmed by the approach of
Frederic the Third of Austria; though his fears could not be justified
by the character or the power of the Imperial candidate. After drawing
his military force to the metropolis, and imposing the best security of
oaths84258425 The oath of fidelity imposed on the emperor by the pope is recorded and sanctified in the Clementines, (l. ii. tit. ix.;)
and Æneas Sylvius, who objects to this new demand, could not foresee, that in a few years he should ascend the throne, and
imbibe the maxims, of Boniface VIII.
and treaties, Nicholas received with a smiling countenance the
faithful advocate and vassal of the church. So tame were the times,
so feeble was the Austrian, that the pomp of his coronation was
accomplished with order and harmony: but the superfluous honor was so
disgraceful to an independent nation, that his successors have excused
themselves from the toilsome pilgrimage to the Vatican; and rest their
Imperial title on the choice of the electors of Germany.

A citizen has remarked, with pride and pleasure, that the king of the
Romans, after passing with a slight salute the cardinals and prelates
who met him at the gate, distinguished the dress and person of the
senator of Rome; and in this last farewell, the pageants of the empire
and the republic were clasped in a friendly embrace.84268426 Lo senatore di Roma, vestito di brocarto con quella beretta, e con quelle maniche, et ornamenti di pelle, co' quali va alle
feste di Testaccio e Nagone, might escape the eye of Æneas Sylvius, but he is viewed with admiration and complacency by the
Roman citizen, (Diario di Stephano Infessura, p. 1133.)
According to
the laws of Rome,84278427 See, in the statutes of Rome, the senator and three judges, (l. i. c. 3—14,) the conservators, (l. i. c. 15, 16, 17, l. iii. c. 4,) the caporioni (l. i. c. 18, l. iii. c. 8,) the secret council, (l. iii. c. 2,) the common council, (l. iii. c. 3.) The title of feuds, defiances, acts of violence, &c., is spread through many a chapter (c. 14—40) of the second book.
her first magistrate was required to be a doctor
of laws, an alien, of a place at least forty miles from the city; with
whose inhabitants he must not be connected in the third canonical degree
of blood or alliance. The election was annual: a severe scrutiny was
instituted into the conduct of the departing senator; nor could he be
recalled to the same office till after the expiration of two years. A
liberal salary of three thousand florins was assigned for his expense
and reward; and his public appearance represented the majesty of the
republic. His robes were of gold brocade or crimson velvet, or in the
summer season of a lighter silk: he bore in his hand an ivory sceptre;
the sound of trumpets announced his approach; and his solemn steps were
preceded at least by four lictors or attendants, whose red wands were
enveloped with bands or streamers of the golden color or livery of the
city. His oath in the Capitol proclaims his right and duty to observe
and assert the laws, to control the proud, to protect the poor, and to
exercise justice and mercy within the extent of his jurisdiction. In
these useful functions he was assisted by three learned strangers; the
two collaterals, and the judge of criminal appeals: their frequent
trials of robberies, rapes, and murders, are attested by the laws; and
the weakness of these laws connives at the licentiousness of private
feuds and armed associations for mutual defence. But the senator was
confined to the administration of justice: the Capitol, the treasury,
and the government of the city and its territory, were intrusted to
the three conservators, who were changed four times in each year: the
militia of the thirteen regions assembled under the banners of
their respective chiefs, or caporioni; and the first of these was
distinguished by the name and dignity of the prior. The popular
legislature consisted of the secret and the common councils of the
Romans. The former was composed of the magistrates and their immediate
predecessors, with some fiscal and legal officers, and three classes of
thirteen, twenty-six, and forty, counsellors: amounting in the whole
to about one hundred and twenty persons. In the common council all
male citizens had a right to vote; and the value of their privilege
was enhanced by the care with which any foreigners were prevented from
usurping the title and character of Romans. The tumult of a democracy
was checked by wise and jealous precautions: except the magistrates,
none could propose a question; none were permitted to speak, except from
an open pulpit or tribunal; all disorderly acclamations were suppressed;
the sense of the majority was decided by a secret ballot; and their
decrees were promulgated in the venerable name of the Roman senate and
people. It would not be easy to assign a period in which this theory of
government has been reduced to accurate and constant practice, since the
establishment of order has been gradually connected with the decay
of liberty. But in the year one thousand five hundred and eighty the
ancient statutes were collected, methodized in three books, and adapted
to present use, under the pontificate, and with the approbation, of
Gregory the Thirteenth:84288428 Statuta alm Urbis Rom Auctoritate S. D. N. Gregorii XIII Pont. Max. a Senatu Populoque Rom. reformata et edita. Rom, 1580,
in folio. The obsolete, repugnant statutes of antiquity were confounded in five books, and Lucas Pætus, a lawyer and antiquarian,
was appointed to act as the modern Tribonian. Yet I regret the old code, with the rugged crust of freedom and barbarism.
this civil and criminal code is the modern
law of the city; and, if the popular assemblies have been abolished,
a foreign senator, with the three conservators, still resides in the
palace of the Capitol.84298429 In my time (1765) and in M. Grosley's, (Observations sur l'Italie torn. ii. p. 361,) the senator of Rome was M. Bielke, a
noble Swede and a proselyte to the Catholic faith. The pope's right to appoint the senator and the conservator is implied,
rather than affirmed, in the statutes.
The policy of the Cæsars has been repeated
by the popes; and the bishop of Rome affected to maintain the form of
a republic, while he reigned with the absolute powers of a temporal, as
well as a spiritual, monarch.

It is an obvious truth, that the times must be suited to extraordinary
characters, and that the genius of Cromwell or Retz might now expire
in obscurity. The political enthusiasm of Rienzi had exalted him to a
throne; the same enthusiasm, in the next century, conducted his imitator
to the gallows. The birth of Stephen Porcaro was noble, his reputation
spotless: his tongue was armed with eloquence, his mind was enlightened
with learning; and he aspired, beyond the aim of vulgar ambition, to
free his country and immortalize his name. The dominion of priests is
most odious to a liberal spirit: every scruple was removed by the recent
knowledge of the fable and forgery of Constantine's donation; Petrarch
was now the oracle of the Italians; and as often as Porcaro revolved the
ode which describes the patriot and hero of Rome, he applied to himself
the visions of the prophetic bard. His first trial of the popular
feelings was at the funeral of Eugenius the Fourth: in an elaborate
speech he called the Romans to liberty and arms; and they listened with
apparent pleasure, till Porcaro was interrupted and answered by a
grave advocate, who pleaded for the church and state. By every law the
seditious orator was guilty of treason; but the benevolence of the new
pontiff, who viewed his character with pity and esteem, attempted by an
honorable office to convert the patriot into a friend. The inflexible
Roman returned from Anagni with an increase of reputation and zeal; and,
on the first opportunity, the games of the place Navona, he tried to
inflame the casual dispute of some boys and mechanics into a general
rising of the people. Yet the humane Nicholas was still averse to accept
the forfeit of his life; and the traitor was removed from the scene of
temptation to Bologna, with a liberal allowance for his support, and the
easy obligation of presenting himself each day before the governor of
the city. But Porcaro had learned from the younger Brutus, that with
tyrants no faith or gratitude should be observed: the exile declaimed
against the arbitrary sentence; a party and a conspiracy were gradually
formed: his nephew, a daring youth, assembled a band of volunteers;
and on the appointed evening a feast was prepared at his house for the
friends of the republic. Their leader, who had escaped from Bologna,
appeared among them in a robe of purple and gold: his voice, his
countenance, his gestures, bespoke the man who had devoted his life or
death to the glorious cause. In a studied oration, he expiated on the
motives and the means of their enterprise; the name and liberties of
Rome; the sloth and pride of their ecclesiastical tyrants; the active
or passive consent of their fellow-citizens; three hundred soldiers, and
four hundred exiles, long exercised in arms or in wrongs; the license
of revenge to edge their swords, and a million of ducats to reward their
victory. It would be easy, (he said,) on the next day, the festival of
the Epiphany, to seize the pope and his cardinals, before the doors, or
at the altar, of St. Peter's; to lead them in chains under the walls of
St. Angelo; to extort by the threat of their instant death a surrender
of the castle; to ascend the vacant Capitol; to ring the alarm bell; and
to restore in a popular assembly the ancient republic of Rome. While he
triumphed, he was already betrayed. The senator, with a strong guard,
invested the house: the nephew of Porcaro cut his way through the crowd;
but the unfortunate Stephen was drawn from a chest, lamenting that his
enemies had anticipated by three hours the execution of his design.
After such manifest and repeated guilt, even the mercy of Nicholas was
silent. Porcaro, and nine of his accomplices, were hanged without the
benefit of the sacraments; and, amidst the fears and invectives of the
papal court, the Romans pitied, and almost applauded, these martyrs of
their country.84308430 Besides the curious, though concise, narrative of Machiavel, (Istoria Florentina, l. vi. Opere, tom. i. p. 210, 211, edit.
Londra, 1747, in 4to.) the Porcarian conspiracy is related in the Diary of Stephen Infessura, (Rer. Ital. tom. iii. P. ii.
p. 1134, 1135,) and in a separate tract by Leo Baptista Alberti, (Rer. Ital. tom. xxv. p. 609—614.) It is amusing to compare
the style and sentiments of the courtier and citizen. Facinus profecto quo.... neque periculo horribilius, neque audaciâ detestabilius,
neque crudelitate tetrius, a quoquam perditissimo uspiam excogitatum sit.... Perdette la vita quell' huomo da bene, e amatore
dello bene e libertà di Roma.
But their applause was mute, their pity ineffectual,
their liberty forever extinct; and, if they have since risen in a
vacancy of the throne or a scarcity of bread, such accidental tumults
may be found in the bosom of the most abject servitude.

But the independence of the nobles, which was fomented by discord,
survived the freedom of the commons, which must be founded in union. A
privilege of rapine and oppression was long maintained by the barons of
Rome; their houses were a fortress and a sanctuary: and the ferocious
train of banditti and criminals whom they protected from the law repaid
the hospitality with the service of their swords and daggers. The
private interest of the pontiffs, or their nephews, sometimes involved
them in these domestic feuds. Under the reign of Sixtus the Fourth, Rome
was distracted by the battles and sieges of the rival houses: after the
conflagration of his palace, the prothonotary Colonna was tortured and
beheaded; and Savelli, his captive friend, was murdered on the spot, for
refusing to join in the acclamations of the victorious Ursini.84318431 The disorders of Rome, which were much inflamed by the partiality of Sixtus IV. are exposed in the Diaries of two spectators,
Stephen Infessura, and an anonymous citizen. See the troubles of the year 1484, and the death of the prothonotary Colonna,
in tom. iii. P. ii. p. 1083, 1158.
But the popes no longer trembled in the Vatican: they had strength
to command, if they had resolution to claim, the obedience of their
subjects; and the strangers, who observed these partial disorders,
admired the easy taxes and wise administration of the ecclesiastical
state.84328432 Est toute la terre de l'église troublée pour cette partialité (des Colonnes et des Ursins) come nous dirions Luce et Grammont,
ou en Hollande Houc et Caballan; et quand ce ne seroit ce différend la terre de l'église seroit la plus heureuse habitation
pour les sujets qui soit dans toute le monde (car ils ne payent ni tailles ni guères autres choses,) et seroient toujours
bien conduits, (car toujours les papes sont sages et bien consellies;) mais très souvent en advient de grands et cruels meurtres
et pilleries.

The spiritual thunders of the Vatican depend on the force of opinion;
and if that opinion be supplanted by reason or passion, the sound may
idly waste itself in the air; and the helpless priest is exposed to
the brutal violence of a noble or a plebeian adversary. But after their
return from Avignon, the keys of St. Peter were guarded by the sword
of St. Paul. Rome was commanded by an impregnable citadel: the use of
cannon is a powerful engine against popular seditions: a regular force
of cavalry and infantry was enlisted under the banners of the pope: his
ample revenues supplied the resources of war: and, from the extent of
his domain, he could bring down on a rebellious city an army of hostile
neighbors and loyal subjects.84338433 By the conomy of Sixtus V. the revenue of the ecclesiastical state was raised to two millions and a half of Roman crowns,
(Vita, tom. ii. p. 291—296;) and so regular was the military establishment, that in one month Clement VIII. could invade the
duchy of Ferrara with three thousand horse and twenty thousand foot, (tom. iii. p. 64) Since that time (A.D. 1597) the papal
arms are happily rusted: but the revenue must have gained some nominal increase. * Note: On the financial measures of Sixtus
V. see Ranke, Dio Römischen Päpste, i. p. 459.—M.
Since the union of the duchies
of Ferrara and Urbino, the ecclesiastical state extends from the
Mediterranean to the Adriatic, and from the confines of Naples to the
banks of the Po; and as early as the sixteenth century, the greater part
of that spacious and fruitful country acknowledged the lawful claims and
temporal sovereignty of the Roman pontiffs. Their claims were readily
deduced from the genuine, or fabulous, donations of the darker ages: the
successive steps of their final settlement would engage us too far in
the transactions of Italy, and even of Europe; the crimes of Alexander
the Sixth, the martial operations of Julius the Second, and the liberal
policy of Leo the Tenth, a theme which has been adorned by the pens of
the noblest historians of the times.84348434 More especially by Guicciardini and Machiavel; in the general history of the former, in the Florentine history, the Prince,
and the political discourses of the latter. These, with their worthy successors, Fra Paolo and Davila, were justly esteemed
the first historians of modern languages, till, in the present age, Scotland arose, to dispute the prize with Italy herself.
In the first period of their
conquests, till the expedition of Charles the Eighth, the popes might
successfully wrestle with the adjacent princes and states, whose
military force was equal, or inferior, to their own. But as soon as the
monarchs of France, Germany and Spain, contended with gigantic arms
for the dominion of Italy, they supplied with art the deficiency of
strength; and concealed, in a labyrinth of wars and treaties, their
aspiring views, and the immortal hope of chasing the Barbarians beyond
the Alps. The nice balance of the Vatican was often subverted by the
soldiers of the North and West, who were united under the standard of
Charles the Fifth: the feeble and fluctuating policy of Clement the
Seventh exposed his person and dominions to the conqueror; and Rome was
abandoned seven months to a lawless army, more cruel and rapacious
than the Goths and Vandals.84358435 In the history of the Gothic siege, I have compared the Barbarians with the subjects of Charles V., (vol. iii. p. 289, 290;)
an anticipation, which, like that of the Tartar conquests, I indulged with the less scruple, as I could scarcely hope to reach
the conclusion of my work.
After this severe lesson, the popes
contracted their ambition, which was almost satisfied, resumed
the character of a common parent, and abstained from all offensive
hostilities, except in a hasty quarrel, when the vicar of Christ and
the Turkish sultan were armed at the same time against the kingdom of
Naples.84368436 The ambitious and feeble hostilities of the Caraffa pope, Paul IV. may be seen in Thuanus (l. xvi.—xviii.) and Giannone,
(tom. iv p. 149—163.) Those Catholic bigots, Philip II. and the duke of Alva, presumed to separate the Roman prince from the
vicar of Christ, yet the holy character, which would have sanctified his victory was decently applied to protect his defeat.
* Note: But compare Ranke, Die Römischen Päpste, i. p. 289.—M.
The French and Germans at length withdrew from the field of
battle: Milan, Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, and the sea-coast of Tuscany,
were firmly possessed by the Spaniards; and it became their interest
to maintain the peace and dependence of Italy, which continued almost
without disturbance from the middle of the sixteenth to the opening
of the eighteenth century. The Vatican was swayed and protected by
the religious policy of the Catholic king: his prejudice and interest
disposed him in every dispute to support the prince against the people;
and instead of the encouragement, the aid, and the asylum, which they
obtained from the adjacent states, the friends of liberty, or the
enemies of law, were enclosed on all sides within the iron circle
of despotism. The long habits of obedience and education subdued the
turbulent spirit of the nobles and commons of Rome. The barons forgot
the arms and factions of their ancestors, and insensibly became the
servants of luxury and government. Instead of maintaining a crowd of
tenants and followers, the produce of their estates was consumed in the
private expenses which multiply the pleasures, and diminish the power,
of the lord.84378437 This gradual change of manners and expense is admirably explained by Dr. Adam Smith, (Wealth of Nations, vol. i. p. 495—504,)
who proves, perhaps too severely, that the most salutary effects have flowed from the meanest and most selfish causes.
The Colonna and Ursini vied with each other in the
decoration of their palaces and chapels; and their antique splendor was
rivalled or surpassed by the sudden opulence of the papal families. In
Rome the voice of freedom and discord is no longer heard; and, instead
of the foaming torrent, a smooth and stagnant lake reflects the image of
idleness and servitude.

A Christian, a philosopher,84388438 Mr. Hume (Hist. of England, vol. i. p. 389) too hastily conclude that if the civil and ecclesiastical powers be united in
the same person, it is of little moment whether he be styled prince or prelate since the temporal character will always predominate.
and a patriot, will be equally
scandalized by the temporal kingdom of the clergy; and the local majesty
of Rome, the remembrance of her consuls and triumphs, may seem to
imbitter the sense, and aggravate the shame, of her slavery. If we
calmly weigh the merits and defects of the ecclesiastical government,
it may be praised in its present state, as a mild, decent, and tranquil
system, exempt from the dangers of a minority, the sallies of youth, the
expenses of luxury, and the calamities of war. But these advantages
are overbalanced by a frequent, perhaps a septennial, election of a
sovereign, who is seldom a native of the country; the reign of a young
statesman of threescore, in the decline of his life and abilities,
without hope to accomplish, and without children to inherit, the labors
of his transitory reign. The successful candidate is drawn from the
church, and even the convent; from the mode of education and life
the most adverse to reason, humanity, and freedom. In the trammels of
servile faith, he has learned to believe because it is absurd, to revere
all that is contemptible, and to despise whatever might deserve the
esteem of a rational being; to punish error as a crime, to reward
mortification and celibacy as the first of virtues; to place the saints
of the calendar84398439 A Protestant may disdain the unworthy preference of St. Francis or St. Dominic, but he will not rashly condemn the zeal or
judgment of Sixtus V., who placed the statues of the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul on the vacant columns of Trajan and Antonine.
above the heroes of Rome and the sages of Athens;
and to consider the missal, or the crucifix, as more useful instruments
than the plough or the loom. In the office of nuncio, or the rank of
cardinal, he may acquire some knowledge of the world, but the primitive
stain will adhere to his mind and manners: from study and experience
he may suspect the mystery of his profession; but the sacerdotal artist
will imbibe some portion of the bigotry which he inculcates. The genius
of Sixtus the Fifth84408440 A wandering Italian, Gregorio Leti, has given the Vita di Sisto-Quinto, (Amstel. 1721, 3 vols. in 12mo.,) a copious and amusing
work, but which does not command our absolute confidence. Yet the character of the man, and the principal facts, are supported
by the annals of Spondanus and Muratori, (A.D. 1585—1590,) and the contemporary history of the great Thuanus, (l. lxxxii.
c. 1, 2, l. lxxxiv. c. 10, l. c. c. 8.) * Note: The industry of M. Ranke has discovered the document, a kind of scandalous
chronicle of the time, from which Leti wrought up his amusing romances. See also M. Ranke's observations on the Life of Sixtus.
by Tempesti, b. iii. p. 317, 324.— M.
burst from the gloom of a Franciscan cloister.
In a reign of five years, he exterminated the outlaws and banditti,
abolished the profane sanctuaries of Rome,84418441 These privileged places, the quartieri or franchises, were adopted from the Roman nobles by the foreign ministers. Julius II. had once abolished the abominandum et detestandum
franchitiarum hujusmodi nomen: and after Sixtus V. they again revived. I cannot discern either the justice or magnanimity
of Louis XIV., who, in 1687, sent his ambassador, the marquis de Lavardin, to Rome, with an armed force of a thousand officers,
guards, and domestics, to maintain this iniquitous claim, and insult Pope Innocent XI. in the heart of his capital, (Vita
di Sisto V. tom. iii. p. 260—278. Muratori, Annali d'Italia, tom. xv. p. 494—496, and Voltaire, Siecle de Louis XIV. tom.
i. c. 14, p. 58, 59.)
formed a naval and
military force, restored and emulated the monuments of antiquity,
and after a liberal use and large increase of the revenue, left five
millions of crowns in the castle of St. Angelo. But his justice was
sullied with cruelty, his activity was prompted by the ambition of
conquest: after his decease the abuses revived; the treasure was
dissipated; he entailed on posterity thirty-five new taxes and the
venality of offices; and, after his death, his statue was demolished
by an ungrateful, or an injured, people.84428442 This outrage produced a decree, which was inscribed on marble, and placed in the Capitol. It is expressed in a style of manly
simplicity and freedom: Si quis, sive privatus, sive magistratum gerens de collocandâ vivo pontifici statuâ mentionem facere ausit, legitimo S. P. Q. R. decreto in perpetuum infamis et publicorum munerum expers esto.
MDXC. mense Augusto, (Vita di Sisto V. tom. iii. p. 469.) I believe that this decree is still observed, and I know that every
monarch who deserves a statue should himself impose the prohibition.
The wild and original
character of Sixtus the Fifth stands alone in the series of the
pontiffs; the maxims and effects of their temporal government may
be collected from the positive and comparative view of the arts and
philosophy, the agriculture and trade, the wealth and population, of
the ecclesiastical state. For myself, it is my wish to depart in charity
with all mankind, nor am I willing, in these last moments, to offend
even the pope and clergy of Rome.84438443 The histories of the church, Italy, and Christendom, have contributed to the chapter which I now conclude. In the original
Lives of the Popes, we often discover the city and republic of Rome: and the events of the xivth and xvth centuries are preserved
in the rude and domestic chronicles which I have carefully inspected, and shall recapitulate in the order of time. 1. Monaldeschi (Ludovici Boncomitis) Fragmenta Annalium Roman. A.D. 1328, in the Scriptores Rerum Italicarum of Muratori,
tom. xii. p. 525. N. B. The credit of this fragment is somewhat hurt by a singular interpolation, in which the author relates
his own death at the age of 115 years. 2. Fragmenta Historiæ Romanæ (vulgo Thomas Fortifioccæ) in Romana Dialecto vulgari, (A.D. 1327—1354, in Muratori, Antiquitat.
Medii Ævi Italiæ, tom. iii. p. 247—548;) the authentic groundwork of the history of Rienzi. 3. Delphini (Gentilis) Diarium Romanum, (A.D. 1370—1410,) in the Rerum Italicarum, tom. iii. P. ii. p. 846. 4. Antonii (Petri) Diarium Rom., (A.D. 1404—1417,) tom. xxiv. p. 699. 5. Petroni (Pauli) Miscellanea Historica Romana, (A.D. 1433—1446,) tom. xxiv. p. 1101. 6. Volaterrani (Jacob.) Diarium Rom., (A.D. 1472—1484,) tom. xxiii p. 81. 7. Anonymi Diarium Urbis Romæ, (A.D. 1481—1492,) tom. iii. P. ii. p. 1069. 8. Infessuræ (Stephani) Diarium Romanum, (A.D. 1294, or 1378—1494,) tom. iii. P. ii. p. 1109. 9. Historia Arcana Alexandri VI. sive Excerpta ex Diario Joh. Burcardi, (A.D. 1492—1503,) edita a Godefr. Gulielm. Leibnizio,
Hanover, 697, in 14to. The large and valuable Journal of Burcard might be completed from the MSS. in different libraries of
Italy and France, (M. de Foncemagne, in the Mémoires de l'Acad. des Inscrip. tom. xvii. p. 597—606.) Except the last, all these fragments and diaries are inserted in the Collections of Muratori, my guide and master in the
history of Italy. His country, and the public, are indebted to him for the following works on that subject: 1. Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, (A.D. 500—1500,) quorum potissima pars nunc primum in lucem prodit, &c., xxviii. vols. in folio, Milan, 1723—1738, 1751. A volume of chronological and alphabetical tables is still wanting
as a key to this great work, which is yet in a disorderly and defective state. 2. Antiquitates Italiæ Medii Ævi, vi. vols. in folio, Milan, 1738—1743, in lxxv. curious dissertations, on the manners, government, religion, &c., of the
Italians of the darker ages, with a large supplement of charters, chronicles, &c. 3. Dissertazioni sopra le Antiquita Italiane, iii. vols. in 4to., Milano, 1751, a free version by the author, which may be quoted with the same confidence as the Latin
text of the Antiquities. Annali d' Italia, xviii. vols. in octavo, Milan, 1753—1756, a dry, though accurate and useful, abridgment of the history of Italy, from the
birth of Christ to the middle of the xviiith century. 5. Dell' Antichita Estense ed Italiane, ii. vols. in folio, Modena, 1717, 1740. In the history of this illustrious race, the parent of our Brunswick kings, the
critic is not seduced by the loyalty or gratitude of the subject. In all his works, Muratori approves himself a diligent and
laborious writer, who aspires above the prejudices of a Catholic priest. He was born in the year 1672, and died in the year
1750, after passing near 60 years in the libraries of Milan and Modena, (Vita del Proposto Ludovico Antonio Muratori, by his
nephew and successor Gian. Francesco Soli Muratori Venezia, 1756 m 4to.)

8422 See the xxviith Dissertation of the Antiquities of Muratori, and the 1st Instruction of the Science des Medailles of the
Père Joubert and the Baron de la Bastie. The Metallic History of Martin V. and his successors has been composed by two monks,
Moulinet, a Frenchman, and Bonanni, an Italian: but I understand, that the first part of the series is restored from more
recent coins.

8423 Besides the Lives of Eugenius IV., (Rerum Italic. tom. iii. P. i. p. 869, and tom. xxv. p. 256,) the Diaries of Paul Petroni
and Stephen Infessura are the best original evidence for the revolt of the Romans against Eugenius IV. The former, who lived
at the time and on the spot, speaks the language of a citizen, equally afraid of priestly and popular tyranny.

8424 The coronation of Frederic III. is described by Lenfant, (Concile de Basle, tom. ii. p. 276—288,) from Æneas Sylvius, a spectator
and actor in that splendid scene.

8425 The oath of fidelity imposed on the emperor by the pope is recorded and sanctified in the Clementines, (l. ii. tit. ix.;)
and Æneas Sylvius, who objects to this new demand, could not foresee, that in a few years he should ascend the throne, and
imbibe the maxims, of Boniface VIII.

8427 See, in the statutes of Rome, the senator and three judges, (l. i. c. 3—14,) the conservators, (l. i. c. 15, 16, 17, l. iii. c. 4,) the caporioni (l. i. c. 18, l. iii. c. 8,) the secret council, (l. iii. c. 2,) the common council, (l. iii. c. 3.) The title of feuds, defiances, acts of violence, &c., is spread through many a chapter (c. 14—40) of the second book.

8428 Statuta alm Urbis Rom Auctoritate S. D. N. Gregorii XIII Pont. Max. a Senatu Populoque Rom. reformata et edita. Rom, 1580,
in folio. The obsolete, repugnant statutes of antiquity were confounded in five books, and Lucas Pætus, a lawyer and antiquarian,
was appointed to act as the modern Tribonian. Yet I regret the old code, with the rugged crust of freedom and barbarism.

8429 In my time (1765) and in M. Grosley's, (Observations sur l'Italie torn. ii. p. 361,) the senator of Rome was M. Bielke, a
noble Swede and a proselyte to the Catholic faith. The pope's right to appoint the senator and the conservator is implied,
rather than affirmed, in the statutes.

8431 The disorders of Rome, which were much inflamed by the partiality of Sixtus IV. are exposed in the Diaries of two spectators,
Stephen Infessura, and an anonymous citizen. See the troubles of the year 1484, and the death of the prothonotary Colonna,
in tom. iii. P. ii. p. 1083, 1158.

8433 By the conomy of Sixtus V. the revenue of the ecclesiastical state was raised to two millions and a half of Roman crowns,
(Vita, tom. ii. p. 291—296;) and so regular was the military establishment, that in one month Clement VIII. could invade the
duchy of Ferrara with three thousand horse and twenty thousand foot, (tom. iii. p. 64) Since that time (A.D. 1597) the papal
arms are happily rusted: but the revenue must have gained some nominal increase. * Note: On the financial measures of Sixtus
V. see Ranke, Dio Römischen Päpste, i. p. 459.—M.

8434 More especially by Guicciardini and Machiavel; in the general history of the former, in the Florentine history, the Prince,
and the political discourses of the latter. These, with their worthy successors, Fra Paolo and Davila, were justly esteemed
the first historians of modern languages, till, in the present age, Scotland arose, to dispute the prize with Italy herself.

8435 In the history of the Gothic siege, I have compared the Barbarians with the subjects of Charles V., (vol. iii. p. 289, 290;)
an anticipation, which, like that of the Tartar conquests, I indulged with the less scruple, as I could scarcely hope to reach
the conclusion of my work.

8436 The ambitious and feeble hostilities of the Caraffa pope, Paul IV. may be seen in Thuanus (l. xvi.—xviii.) and Giannone,
(tom. iv p. 149—163.) Those Catholic bigots, Philip II. and the duke of Alva, presumed to separate the Roman prince from the
vicar of Christ, yet the holy character, which would have sanctified his victory was decently applied to protect his defeat.
* Note: But compare Ranke, Die Römischen Päpste, i. p. 289.—M.

8437 This gradual change of manners and expense is admirably explained by Dr. Adam Smith, (Wealth of Nations, vol. i. p. 495—504,)
who proves, perhaps too severely, that the most salutary effects have flowed from the meanest and most selfish causes.

8438 Mr. Hume (Hist. of England, vol. i. p. 389) too hastily conclude that if the civil and ecclesiastical powers be united in
the same person, it is of little moment whether he be styled prince or prelate since the temporal character will always predominate.

8439 A Protestant may disdain the unworthy preference of St. Francis or St. Dominic, but he will not rashly condemn the zeal or
judgment of Sixtus V., who placed the statues of the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul on the vacant columns of Trajan and Antonine.

8440 A wandering Italian, Gregorio Leti, has given the Vita di Sisto-Quinto, (Amstel. 1721, 3 vols. in 12mo.,) a copious and amusing
work, but which does not command our absolute confidence. Yet the character of the man, and the principal facts, are supported
by the annals of Spondanus and Muratori, (A.D. 1585—1590,) and the contemporary history of the great Thuanus, (l. lxxxii.
c. 1, 2, l. lxxxiv. c. 10, l. c. c. 8.) * Note: The industry of M. Ranke has discovered the document, a kind of scandalous
chronicle of the time, from which Leti wrought up his amusing romances. See also M. Ranke's observations on the Life of Sixtus.
by Tempesti, b. iii. p. 317, 324.— M.

8441 These privileged places, the quartieri or franchises, were adopted from the Roman nobles by the foreign ministers. Julius II. had once abolished the abominandum et detestandum
franchitiarum hujusmodi nomen: and after Sixtus V. they again revived. I cannot discern either the justice or magnanimity
of Louis XIV., who, in 1687, sent his ambassador, the marquis de Lavardin, to Rome, with an armed force of a thousand officers,
guards, and domestics, to maintain this iniquitous claim, and insult Pope Innocent XI. in the heart of his capital, (Vita
di Sisto V. tom. iii. p. 260—278. Muratori, Annali d'Italia, tom. xv. p. 494—496, and Voltaire, Siecle de Louis XIV. tom.
i. c. 14, p. 58, 59.)

8442 This outrage produced a decree, which was inscribed on marble, and placed in the Capitol. It is expressed in a style of manly
simplicity and freedom: Si quis, sive privatus, sive magistratum gerens de collocandâ vivo pontifici statuâ mentionem facere ausit, legitimo S. P. Q. R. decreto in perpetuum infamis et publicorum munerum expers esto.
MDXC. mense Augusto, (Vita di Sisto V. tom. iii. p. 469.) I believe that this decree is still observed, and I know that every
monarch who deserves a statue should himself impose the prohibition.

8443 The histories of the church, Italy, and Christendom, have contributed to the chapter which I now conclude. In the original
Lives of the Popes, we often discover the city and republic of Rome: and the events of the xivth and xvth centuries are preserved
in the rude and domestic chronicles which I have carefully inspected, and shall recapitulate in the order of time. 1. Monaldeschi (Ludovici Boncomitis) Fragmenta Annalium Roman. A.D. 1328, in the Scriptores Rerum Italicarum of Muratori,
tom. xii. p. 525. N. B. The credit of this fragment is somewhat hurt by a singular interpolation, in which the author relates
his own death at the age of 115 years. 2. Fragmenta Historiæ Romanæ (vulgo Thomas Fortifioccæ) in Romana Dialecto vulgari, (A.D. 1327—1354, in Muratori, Antiquitat.
Medii Ævi Italiæ, tom. iii. p. 247—548;) the authentic groundwork of the history of Rienzi. 3. Delphini (Gentilis) Diarium Romanum, (A.D. 1370—1410,) in the Rerum Italicarum, tom. iii. P. ii. p. 846. 4. Antonii (Petri) Diarium Rom., (A.D. 1404—1417,) tom. xxiv. p. 699. 5. Petroni (Pauli) Miscellanea Historica Romana, (A.D. 1433—1446,) tom. xxiv. p. 1101. 6. Volaterrani (Jacob.) Diarium Rom., (A.D. 1472—1484,) tom. xxiii p. 81. 7. Anonymi Diarium Urbis Romæ, (A.D. 1481—1492,) tom. iii. P. ii. p. 1069. 8. Infessuræ (Stephani) Diarium Romanum, (A.D. 1294, or 1378—1494,) tom. iii. P. ii. p. 1109. 9. Historia Arcana Alexandri VI. sive Excerpta ex Diario Joh. Burcardi, (A.D. 1492—1503,) edita a Godefr. Gulielm. Leibnizio,
Hanover, 697, in 14to. The large and valuable Journal of Burcard might be completed from the MSS. in different libraries of
Italy and France, (M. de Foncemagne, in the Mémoires de l'Acad. des Inscrip. tom. xvii. p. 597—606.) Except the last, all these fragments and diaries are inserted in the Collections of Muratori, my guide and master in the
history of Italy. His country, and the public, are indebted to him for the following works on that subject: 1. Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, (A.D. 500—1500,) quorum potissima pars nunc primum in lucem prodit, &c., xxviii. vols. in folio, Milan, 1723—1738, 1751. A volume of chronological and alphabetical tables is still wanting
as a key to this great work, which is yet in a disorderly and defective state. 2. Antiquitates Italiæ Medii Ævi, vi. vols. in folio, Milan, 1738—1743, in lxxv. curious dissertations, on the manners, government, religion, &c., of the
Italians of the darker ages, with a large supplement of charters, chronicles, &c. 3. Dissertazioni sopra le Antiquita Italiane, iii. vols. in 4to., Milano, 1751, a free version by the author, which may be quoted with the same confidence as the Latin
text of the Antiquities. Annali d' Italia, xviii. vols. in octavo, Milan, 1753—1756, a dry, though accurate and useful, abridgment of the history of Italy, from the
birth of Christ to the middle of the xviiith century. 5. Dell' Antichita Estense ed Italiane, ii. vols. in folio, Modena, 1717, 1740. In the history of this illustrious race, the parent of our Brunswick kings, the
critic is not seduced by the loyalty or gratitude of the subject. In all his works, Muratori approves himself a diligent and
laborious writer, who aspires above the prejudices of a Catholic priest. He was born in the year 1672, and died in the year
1750, after passing near 60 years in the libraries of Milan and Modena, (Vita del Proposto Ludovico Antonio Muratori, by his
nephew and successor Gian. Francesco Soli Muratori Venezia, 1756 m 4to.)